The Civil War in North Carolina Research Guide

Introduction

Politics/Coming of the War

Home Front

Soldier Life

Enslaved Peoples and Black Folks

Women

Campaigns and Battles

Medicine

Reconstruction

The Civil War in American Memory

Reference

 

 

Content Warning

As the Civil War’s main conflict revolved around slavery, there are a number of sources that use outdated and potentially offensive terms regarding Black enslaved people. Some of the biographies in this guide include powerful people who achieved money and status through the enslavement and degradation of Black people before and after the Civil War. Themes of racial violence are depicted in a number of the materials in this guide, but they are particularly prominent in the “Enslaved Peoples and Black Folks” and “Reconstruction” sections.

Introduction

The materials in this subject guide provide information on the Civil War in North Carolina. They include books, personal letters and other items that reflect the lived experience of North Carolinians. Resource categories that fall outside the the Civil War years (1861-1865) include: politics before the war, Reconstruction, and the Civil War in American memory, particularly the role of Confederate memorials and monuments. It is important to note that while North Carolina provided a lot of soldiers, materials, and funding for the Confederate Army, there were a number of North Carolinians that supported the Union effort. 

Politics/Coming of the War

The materials in this section look to contextualize the Civil War in North Carolina and the broader political backdrop of the coming of the war. It includes scholarship on adjacent states that illuminate southern politics. 

Home Front

This section gives a broad overview of the Civil War in North Carolina. Some of the materials give insight into the divide that North Carolinians felt on whether to align themselves with the Union or Confederacy. Materials also include information on soldiers’ families and what civilian life was like for North Carolinians. Many resources are organized based on region (mountains, piedmont, and the coastal plain) as the geographical context impacted war strategies. 

Civil War in Western North Carolina

Civil War in the Piedmont

Civil War in Eastern North Carolina

Enslaved Peoples and Black Folks

As noted above, the main conflict of the Civil War was slavery. The resources in this section contain information about the lives of enslaved and free Black people in North Carolina. They also contain information on Black Union soldiers. The archival material in this section comes from the Historic Stagville Foundation records. The Foundation is a non-profit that works to support Historic Stagville, a former plantation that was was owned by the Bennehan-Cameron family who enslaved around 900 people. Historic Stagville, located in Durham County (formerly Orange Co.) now works to educate the public on enslavement in North Carolina and historic preservation. 

Soldier Life

The materials in this section include accounts of North Carolina troops during the Civil War, including Black regiments that were part of the U.S. Colored Troops. Some of the materials offer an expansive analysis of soldier life. The materials within the “Biographies” subsection describe materials about one specific individual. 

Biographies

Women

White women played an important role in maintaining the status quo of everyday life on plantations and the home while their husbands fought in the War. Black women, most of whom were enslaved, fought for freedom by fleeing to Union lines, supporting Black soldiers, organizing relief associations, and engaging in antislavery politics in everyday spaces. This section contains a mix of primary and secondary sources.

Campaigns and Battles

The majority of the materials in the “Campaigns and Battles” section cover campaigns that took place in North Carolina or North Carolina troops. Many of the resources detail Sherman’s March to the Sea, a Union campaign designed to destroy Confederate infrastructure that stretched from Georgia to the Carolinas. Other resources provide information about Bennett Place, the site of the largest Confederate surrender in the war. 

Medicine

This material relates to the medical advancements and medical services during the Civil War. Some of the resources also examine folks who were disabled from the war and living with those disabilities afterwards.

Reconstruction

This section focuses on the transformation of North Carolina during the Reconstruction era (1865-1877) after the Civil War.  Significant issues during this period included the meaning of freedom and citizenship, the rights of Black Americans, the reintegration of the South into the United States, and the transition from enslaved to free Black labor in the South. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were passed.  Respectively, the amendments abolished slavery (except for incarcerated people), conferred citizenship on those born in the United States, and determined that the right to vote could not be denied based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. As a result, Black men were able to run for and hold political office.  Reconstruction in North Carolina was filled with conflict and violence as many white people, particularly white Democrats, wanted to maintain power over Black people after slavery was outlawed. The end of Reconstruction is commonly marked as 1877 when the last federal troops withdrew from the South. 

The Civil War in American Memory

These resources relate to the Civil War in American memory, particularly the history and politics of Confederate monuments in North Carolina. They include historical sources produced by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, an organization made up of descendants of Confederate veterans who work to memorialize their ancestors. While most Civil War monuments in North Carolina memorialize Confederate troops, North Carolinians also fought in for the Union. Some of the books listed below help contextualize the Civil War in American memory, including the role of monuments and other aspects of the built environment.

Reference

The reference section of this guide contains traditional reference materials, such as encyclopedias. It also contains a number of rosters and histories for various squads of North Carolina troops.

This page was originally created by Sophia Chimbanda, Hart Leadership Fellow at Duke University, in Spring 2024. Corrections or additions may have been made by NCC staff.